Seattle City Council President M. Lorena González (Citywide, Position 9) issued the following statement after tonight’s early election results:
“Tonight, at the local level, Seattle voters showed up in record-breaking numbers to say yes to transit and expansion of our healthcare infrastructure by overwhelmingly passing Seattle’s Proposition 1 and King County’s Proposition 1. These transit and healthcare facility investments will be critical to the region’s economic recovery and will ensure that Harborview Medical Center — our region’s premier healthcare system — is prepared to triage the ongoing realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you to Seattle voters for their willingness to continue investing in critical transit and healthcare infrastructure even during a historic economic recession.
“Nationally, we saw voters across the country also turn out in record numbers to exercise their right to vote in our presidential election, in spite of the Trump Administration’s multi-pronged attempts to suppress Americans’ right to vote. While it may take several days to count every ballot, tonight’s election results make clear that we are a nation divided and we crave leadership that will cultivate unity and healing. For four years, President Trump has led with divisions. Collectively, we must move beyond division. We must come together to collaborate, to build consensus and to effectuate change together. As the President of the Seattle City Council, and a lifelong Democrat, I am hopeful that here at home we can recommit to civil discourse in pursuit of bold and systemic change that will continue to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.
“In 2008, many Seattlelites celebrated the election of President Barack Obama by spontaneously marching and joyously dancing in our streets across the City of Seattle. In 2016, thousands of people peacefully protested during the Women’s March in protest of the election of President Trump. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, we have seen over 150 days of civil disobedience demanding local leaders take swift action towards achieving racial justice. Regardless of today’s election outcome, I hope that those who choose to protest or demonstrate will do so peacefully and without resorting to violence and destruction. Likewise, it is my sincere hope that the Seattle Police Department will facilitate the safe and peaceful exercise of our First Amendment rights.”